Drag-car



R. HAMmoN AND E. J. REIMEL.

DRAG CAR. APPUcArIoN FILED MAYzQ. 1919.

Patented July 6, 1920.

2 SHEETS -SHEET l.

.lltrlll:

R. HAMILTUN AND 5.1. REIMEI..

DRAG CAR.

APPUcATmN ruin Muze, 1919.

1,345,439. Patented July 6, 1920.

2 sHErs-sHEr 2.

INVENTURS bd 41mm ATTUR/VEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DRAG-CAR.

Application led May 29, 1919.

To all whomy it may concern:

Be it known that we, Ronnn'r HAMILTON and ELMER J. REIMEL, citizens ofthe United States, residing in Birmingham, county of Jefferson, andState of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDrag-Cars, of which the following is a specification. i

Our invention relates to improved means for moving empty work cars fromthe entry of a` mine into the work rooms thereof and for subsequentlyhauling the loaded cars out of the workrooms and along the entry of' themine. Heretofore these work ca rs have been drawn by a nulle and in thinveins of low coal it was necessary to shoot down a considerable portionofthe roof in order to permit the mule to enter." This practice wasobjectionable due to the time consumed a nd the expense involved. Insome instances where low coal is encountered manual labor is utilizedfor moving the work cars which is a costly and inefficient way of doingthe work. In thin seams of coal when the work cars have to be pushed inand out of the room by mules or by hand; if the length of the room isgreater than 250 feet, the expense involved in operating the work cars`runs the cost of the mining to a higher figure than would be the case ifnew entries were driven and short rooms turned oft' of them.

Our invention reduces this labor cost and by its utilization, rooms ofgreat length can be used thereby reducing the number of entries requiredwhich results in great saving in the cost of construction and in theoperating expenses of a mine.

(lne of the objects of the invention is to eliminate the man powerrequired in handling ears. Another object is to increase the dailyoutput of coal delivered by each miner. A further object is to provide acar capable of moving the work ears within the workinor room ofthe mineand hauling them along the mine entry. Another object is to provide adrag car having reels and driving mec ianism mounted thereon in such away as to enable the center of gravity of the car to be kept at a lowpoint to prevent thc over turning of the drag car when pulling a heavyload. A\nother object is to combine the various elements hereindescribed so as to effectively perform their various functions. Otherobjects will be apparent from Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 1920. serial No, 3o0.54s.

`the following description when read in conchain drive for transmittingpower from a common motor to the two drag wheels shown in the abovefigures:

Fig. i is a diagranunatic horizontal scction showing the mine entry andworking room and illustrating the operation of the doubhl reel drag ear;

lfig. 5 is a side elevation of a single reel car embodying our inventionparts heilig slywn in section on the line of Fig. l:

Fig. (i is a plan view thereof;

Fig. i' is a detail section on the line of Fig. ti;

Fig. 8 is a detail of a coupling pin eniploycd for establishing adriving connection between the drag reel and its driving worin gear;

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section showing diagramlnatically the single reeldrag car in operation.

(lur improved drag car comprises a traine supported on wheelsv l and C.the wheels B being loosely mounted on the axles Il. and the wheels (lbeing fixedly secured to their axles C. The truck fraaie supports amotor l) on one end of the armature sha t't of which is secured a.sprocket ll and to thc other end of which is secured a driving pinionl)'. Drag reels E and F are mounted for free rotation on verticalspindlesl .l and l each of which is driven by a worin (fear similar tothat illustrated at .l2 in Fig. r. The spindles .l and .lare supportedat their upper ends in brackets J" and at their lower ends in bosses J4formed in the gear casing J5.

Bearings L and N are provided to reduce the friction duc to the weightof thc reels and the thrust` of the worin gears. The gea r case Ji isadapted to contain oil or grcasc for lubrication of the parts and acover plattA .v serves to prevent splashing out of tlnI lubricant and toexclude foreign matter from the interior of said casing.

The worm gears -l2 arc cach driacn by a worm l1 secured to a shaft li'on thc ontcr end of which is secured a sprocket lf'. chain (i passesover thc .sprocket ll and around the sprockets lig-lf for drivingr thewormal lf-li and consequently theI reels ll and l". .\n idler eprocket Kis. provided to secure a good are ot' contact between the chain and thesprocketn` and to adjust the tension ot' thin chain. The reels ll and l"are each provided with a plurality olf aperture Q and the worin gear.l'' is provided with an aperture Il. \\'hen the apertures Q and ll arein line a coupling piu l may he inserted to etlect a driving engagementhet ween either of the drag reels and its correaponding worm gear J2.

a thu# constructed it will be seen that the motor l) is capable 'ofindependently driving either of the. drag reels E and F according towhich one the coupling pin l. is inserted in. This arrangement permitsan oi'ierator to use. one of the drag reels for winding up cable and theother for paying oli' eahle in a manner to he described here inafter.

For cont rolling the propelling ot the truck a eonntershal't L mountedin suitable bearinge` secured to the truck is provided. Un one end otlthisl shaft a Sprocket o is tixedlv secured and on the other end a gearn provided with a clutch face a' and meshing with the gear 1)' isloosely mounted. A, clutch member l is splined to the counter i#hatt andis adapted to be. moved by a coutrol lever e into engagement with theclutch member e ecured to the gear fr. A sprocket chain c connects thesprocket 7" with a sprocket t" 4Secured to the :shaft f" whereby poweris transmitted from the counter-shaft /1 to the driving axle C.

A controller f carried hy the traine A serves to govern the starting andtopping ot the motor l) as well as to control the Apeed thereof. rl`hecurrent for the motor l) is vsupplied iu any uitable manner. forexample. h v lin-ans: of au overhead trolley wire /f indicated in Fig.Q, and a trolley pole L supported on an upright /12 Ieeured tocrossheamS servee to convey the current from the feed wire in a wellknown manner. the current returning hy way of the wheels through the t`acks.

ln operation when it is deSirf-.d to remove coal or other ore from oneof the. workrooms ol' a niioe the drag car is driven along the tracks`'l` ot' the mine entry V in some in tanee towing with it a number olIwork cany which are not provided with any sell'- propelling means.hranch track ll" is connected hy :ie-:ius ol' a suitable spur with the.workrooni :ind providee means` for guiding the work car within theworkroonr illustrate.` the operation ot' the Single reel drag ear shownin Figs. 5 and G which is adapted for pulling a loaded oar out ol the,workroom.

lel'erring first to Fig. 4 the dragr car pulls au empty work ear up toposition` indicated at u where the trip rider or operator securea it inany suitable. manner, for example hy means ol' a short length of cable.u to a eahle er which passes around a guide sheave .1' seeured in placeon a stake or other suitable means within the workroom and niar theworkingfaee. One free end .ai of this cable w is fastened to the freeend of the eahle wound on the reel F and the other end g/ of the fable'te is fastened to the end of the cable carried by the reel IC.

ln order to draw the work car u into the workroom and up to the face ofthe work, the operator removes the coupling pin l 'from the reel F andinserts a coupling pin in the reel E to effect a driving engagementbetween said reel and its corresponding worm gear J2. The motor is thenStarted te. drive the worm gearing which clearly will rotate the reel1*; and thereby wind up the cable le and cause the movement of the cablein the direct-ion indicated by the arrow .r and cause the work car U tobe hauled up to the position indicated at `e. After the empty car hasbeen moved up to the posi tion `shown at fr the operator on the drag carwill stop the motor and remove the coupling pin from the reel E andinsert it in the reel F and the workman in the room will disconnect theempty ear from the cable 'te and will connect a loaded car a therewithby means, for example, of a short cable a and will then signal theoperator on, the drag ear who will again start the. motor which'willcause the reel E to withdraw the loaded work caras.. This will bring thefree ends` 1/ and s of the cable e to the position shown in the drawingwhere they may he disconnected from the cables carried hy the reels Eand F and they will therefore he` in position for subsequent operationsimilar to that described and the loaded car may be, connected to one ofthe cables on either the. reels E and F and be towed along a mine 'entryV to a dumping station or any other desired location.

Then a single reel drag car is used as illustrated in Fig. El the dragear is driven up to the throat of theworking room and the trip riderremoves the pin l from the reel E and takes hold of the tree end ol" thecable wound thereon and connectel it to the empty car nl which ie; thenin the position` shown in dotted lines` and shovea the ca" along thehraneh track T to the positlon `diown at a. A\l`ter the car is loadedtlnI coupling pin l is put in place and on `ignal troni the workmanwithin the rooiu the opY crator on the drag car darn` the inotor toeallse thiI rotation of the dl'ag reel tllel'elrv hauling the loaded earont illto the nlille el|tr v.

'l`he operator on thil drag ear eall tllell tllrow the eluteh f/ intoengagement with the ehlteh nlenlller o earried h v the gear l and thedrag ear will tllell he driven along with the loaded work ear ill tow,

l"roln the ahove it will he .seen that our invention provides allilnproved nleans for handling the work ears ill a lnine whel'ehv greaterspeed is attained and ('ollsillerallle lnanllal lahor with its attendantexpense is eliminated. llv using a worm gear drive t'or the drag reelswe are enahled to eonstrllet a ear requiring veri' little head roonl andalso one having a low renter of gravit)v and therefore lessl liahle totip over when hauling a heavily laden wol'k ear. Th-l worlu drive alsoaffords a safety l'eatnre oi' no little inlportanee heeanse in the eventof the lmotor failing for any unforseen reason while a ear is lleingdrawn llp all ilu-lined traek` the saine would not he ahle to ran wild`ther worln gear not heilig ahle to drive the worm and therein'preventing aeeident and loss of propertlv.

Though we have deserihed with great partieularitv the details andconstruction of the embodiments of the invention herein shown, yet it isnot to he understood therefrom that we are limited thereto as ehanges ineonstruetion and snhstitlltion of equivalents ma;v he made h v thoseskilled in the art without departure from the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

ll'hat we elailn is:

l` In a nline a longitudinal entry, a lateral working roollleonnnllnieating therewith, a drag ear movahle along `said entry` workears adapted to he loaded in said milling room, a guide sheave alldeahle in said room adapted to he eonneeted with said work ears, andlneans carried hy said drag ear and eo-aeting with said guide sheave andcable to move the work ears into and ont oll said nlinillg roolll.

3. lll a nline a longitudinal entrlv, a lateral working roonleollllnnnieating therewith` :l drag ear nlovahle along said entry. workears adapted to he loaded ill said nlilling room, a guide .sheave andVahle in said roonl adapted to he eonneeted with said work ears, anlotor l'ol' propelling said drag ear, drag reels earried hy said earalld arranged to he driven h v `said nlotor, lneans l'or establishingalld disengaging the driving von neetion hetween said motor and -saiddrag reels. wherelnv said reels eoaet with said sheave andrahle toalternatelv lnove said work ears into and ont olV said lnine roonl.

Jl. dragl ear eonlprising a trnek having a drag reel nlounted thereon.wornl gearing for driving said drag reel, a easing t'or ill elosing`said wol'ln gearillg and holding a lnhrir'ant therefor, a lnotor t'ordriving said worin gearing alld propelling the trui-k and a renlovahlepill l'or estalllishing a driving c-ollnetftion between said drag reelalld sai/l worm gearing.

4. A drag ear eolnprising a truek having a drag reel freely nlounted ona shat't. a worm gear seellred to Said shaft, a worin t'or driving saidgear, a nlotor operativelxv eon neeted with said worin and means forengag ing and disengaging the drag reel and the worm gear.

5. A drag ear eolnprising a truek having a drag reel freely lnonllted ona vertieal shaft. a worin gear seenred to said shalt, a worm for drivingsaid gear. a nlotor whose shaft extends erosswise of said trllek op eativelyY eonneeted with said worin and means t',or engaging anddisengaging the drag reel and the wornl gear.

ln witness whereof, we have hereunto signed our names.

ROBERT IVIAMILTUN. ELMER J. REIMEL,

